Along the time, I made a few videos where I show pen and ink drawing tutorials. I will show you how to draw a pirate ship, how to sketch a Viking ship and how to draw a Chinese ship.

The sailing boats seem complex in the photos, but if you break them into pieces, everything feels much easier.

I use a regular pen with no refill that I dip in black ink. The ink I am using is permanent black ink from Winsor and Newton. In the image, you can see the type of ink I use. The only difference is that I use the 250ml version of this ink.

The dipping pen can be seen in the videos below. I prefer this type of pen because the ink is permanent and it ruins regular refilling pens. The ink is drying in the pen and you can’t use it anymore.

1. Start by drawing the base of the boat

In the following video, I did a few months ago, you can see I draw the base and then I draw the mast of the ship. You need to use a reference photo to have a better image in your head about the boat. In this time-lapse pen and ink drawing tutorial, you can see the base, the mast, and the sails.

2. After drawing the basic elements of the sailing ship, you can add the smaller details.

Other elements of a boat are ropes, windows, flags, stairs, anchors and cabin. It’s not hard to learn how to draw a sailing ship. You don’t have to worry if the lines are not straight. I think that sloppy lines make the drawing more artistic.

3. When you finish adding all the elements, you can start adding shadows.

I do this step by cross-hatching the shadows, starting with the edge of the darker areas.
Basically, this is how you draw a sailing ship. It doesn’t matter if you don’t draw it correctly from the first try. You will get better with each practice. I always look at sailing ships images when I draw to draw the correct proportions.

Other tutorials I recommend you are the following videos where I show how to draw a pirate ship and how to draw a Chinese Antique ship.
You can also find the instant downloads of the prints on my Etsy page.

As you can see in my other related articles, such as the puppy drawing and the tree sketch, I love to use pen and ink in my drawings.

How to draw a pirate ship

A pirate ship has more veils and it’s more complex than a regular ship. That’s why it’s important to draw it using a pencil if you don’t have enough confidence to use a pen and ink. So you can erase the mistakes and invisible parts. Another method is to start with the elements you see in front and then draw the back-end elements. You can see my method in the following time-lapse video I created.

How to draw a Chinese antique ship

Drawing ships is one of my passions and in this video, I did an example drawing after a Chinese Ship image. In the same series, there is also a Pirate Ship Drawing, a Viking Ship Drawing, a regular boat, and this Chinese Ship Drawing. I do these drawings in pen and ink on paper. The ink is permanent black ink from Winsor & Newton. It’s a high-quality ink. The video is not so good since I didn’t realize I was filming in portrait mode. But enjoy and I hope you learn something new from videos.